Poll: Voters Likely to Re-Elect San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo in June

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo holds the clear advantage in his bid for re-election. (Photo by Colin Quirt)

The first polling in the San Jose mayor’s race came out this week, just days away from the filing deadline. One survey suggests that Sam Liccardo will coast his way to a second term in the June primary, a contest that’s so far only drawn few obscure opponents—QuangMinh Pham, Tyrone Wade and Ed Rael.

But another poll has progressives hopeful that they could find a more left-leaning candidate to unseat the incumbent despite his $545,000 head start in fundraising and endorsements from six members of Congress and every living former San Jose mayor.

The poll commissioned by Liccardo’s camp shows that of 400 likely San Jose voters, 67 percent approve of his work as mayor and more than half consider him trustworthy and collaborative. Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, who’s handling Liccardo’s campaign coffers, says the survey confirms what he already knew.

“It’s going to be extremely tough to defeat Sam,” he tells Fly. “It’s always hard to defeat an incumbent without some kind of scandal or something, but if you’re in politics today and you have a 67 percent favorability rating, that makes a pretty strong case.”

A competing poll of just as many prospective voters, however, found that only 18 percent of respondents wholeheartedly support Liccardo and 45 percent are ambivalent about his performance. The second survey asked how people felt about county Supervisor Cindy Chavez jumping into the race.

While she was viewed less favorably than Liccardo, a source familiar with the poll say even he failed to win over more than half the respondents. With results like that, it’s probably not worth the trouble for Chavez to run against Liccardo.

“Cindy is doing a great job,” Stone says. “So what would it benefit her to take on a mayor who has a two-thirds approval rating?”

Below is the announcement Liccardo’s campaign sent about its initial poll.Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3) recently completed a survey of likely voters in San Jose to assess views of Mayor Sam Liccardo in advance of the June primary election. The results show both broad and strong approval of the mayor’s performance in office, and support for many of his key policy initiatives. The data also show that—by an overwhelming margin—June voters are likely to vote to re-elect him rather than replace him. Among the key specific findings of the survey were the following:

• Local voters express broad approval of many of Liccardo’s key policy initiatives. As shown in the table below, more than nine in 10 voters indicate support for a variety of key programs and policies from Liccardo’s first term as mayor. Support for the specific elements of Liccardo’s agenda likely underlies the widespread approval of his performance as mayor.

• In addition, voters perceive Liccardo as having a number of positive traits that underlie his success as mayor. Survey respondents were read a list of words and phrases, and were asked to indicate how well each describes Liccardo.

The following are some of the traits voters most closely associate with him:

Taken together, the data show that Mayor Liccardo is in an extremely strong position to win re-election in June. Voters have a very positive view of Liccardo personally and approve of his performance as Mayor by even wider margins. Voters express broad support for a wide range of his key policy initiatives

Methodology: From Feb. 25 to 28, FM3 conducted 400 telephone interviews with San Jose voters who are considered likely to cast ballots in the June 28 primary election. Interviews were conducted in English and Vietnamese, and on landline and wireless phones. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 4.9 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Margins of error for subgroups within the sample will be higher. Some percentages may not sum to 100 percent because of rounding

Soooo..three mayoral terms in a row go to either downtown property owners.. or a downtown real estate attorney… Hmm … Yes.. let’s reelect the guy responsible for the demise of Sjpd… The earthquakes toilet bowl stadium.. the non existent A’s stadium (50 million dollars)… And the downtown flood… Oh… And the total cost of measure b… Suckers!

“It’s always hard to defeat an incumbent without some kind of scandal or something”..Well Mayor Liccardo and the City Council have their big scandal to worry about. Liccardo and the City Council is covering up criminal misconduct by the City Attorney’s Office, the US District Court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals during two lawsuits I filed against the City for disability and racial discrimination. During litigation of my lawsuits, the City Attorney’s Office, in collusion with the district court and the 9th Circuit created false documents, falsified court records, and staged a phony hearing on a motion I filed. City officials bribed a former police administrator to commit perjury in a deposition and an affidavit he filed with the district court. This is just a sample of the misconduct that occurred during my lawsuit. Since the mayor has the local media and the courts in his back pocket this scandal has not gotten the exposure it deserves. But I give the mayor and City Council this warning. You should be very worried. The fake judgments by the courts in favor of the City are of no value. I will expose the City for its corruption and hypocrisy. Your day of reckoning is imminent. If you think I’m bluffing, check out these links: http://crnctz.blogspot.com/2015/08/exposing-cover-up-of-cheating-scandal.html; https://www.facebook.com/groups/624131267713226/. This is only the beginning
Fred Bates, retired SJPD

Good, bring this out and keep it in front of the voters. The fact that San Jose and the politicians do not follow the letter of the law. The sanctuary city and state is enough for me. I have to respect the people in office and when they do not obey the law they are out. Can you believe that they are openly disobeying federal law. Like a repeat offender, it is just a matter of time before they break other laws…….like the perjury is a perfect example…..corruption costs you and I money, no matter how small.

Mr Bates I hope you prevail! My faith in the SJ voter is zero. Their track record is beyond horrendous. The city and residents get what they have asked for….. Just look around at the blight everywhere.

Aren’t these the same pollsters who stated unequivocally that Hillary Clinton had an overwhelming lead in delegates and would be our next president. They even went so far as to tell us exit polling confirmed her imminent victory. One thing they didn’t count on is voters despise pollsters and media and lied. Don’t believe in everything you hear from politicians, pollsters, and media distributors. Victory for voters everywhere!

We need new blood. We need politicians that follow the law. We need transparency and we do not have it in politics today. I am going to campaign against any and all incumbents. We are not getting anywhere. The California politicians don’t want to protect their citizens, they go against their constituents.

Thanks to those that have given me words of encouragement. I will continue to expose Mayor Liccardo and the City Council for their corruption and total lack of respect for our constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the City’s very own policies. I ask no one to take my word for anything. It is the reason I started my blog and posted information on facebook. So everyone can see that the evidence of serious misconduct by the City and federal courts is indisputable. Mr. Keffer you are absolutely right. We need politicians that follow the law, and we need transparency. There is no accountability over at San Jose City Hall and in our Bay Area federal courts. Many of these officials, including Mayor Liccardo, should already be under investigation for their public corruption crimes. I promise I will continue to fight. If Mayor Liccardo had a shred of integrity, he would not seek re-election because of the crimes he has committed and because of his cover-up of the bigoted treatment I received at the hands of City officials.
Fred Bates retired SJPD